(a) Field of the Invention
An image converting device and three dimensional (“3D”) image display device including the same are provided.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, in the 3D image displaying technology, a stereoscopic effect of an object is represented using binocular parallax. Binocular parallax is one of the most critical factors that allow a person to perceive a stereoscopic effect at close range. That is, different 2D images are respectively seen by a right eye and a left eye of an observer, and if the image seen by the left eye (hereinafter referred to as a “left-eye image”) and the image seen by the right eye (hereinafter referred to as a “right-eye image”) are transmitted to the brain, the left-eye image and the right-eye image are combined in the brain such that a 3D image having depth information is recognized, i.e., perceived as depth.
The stereoscopic image display device using binocular parallax in 3D image displays may be categorized into different types, including stereoscopic schemes using glasses such as shutter glasses and polarized glasses, and autostereoscopic schemes in which a lenticular lens or a parallax barrier is disposed to the display device without the use of glasses.
Generally, a multi-view 2D image is required to produce the 3D image; that is, two different 2D images taken from different points of view are used in order to produce a 3D image. However these schemes may not utilize a single-view 2D image that has been manufactured in the past in order to generate a 3D image; that is, the above schemes may not generate a 3D image using a 2D image taken from only a single point of view. Thus, movies or images which have been previously filmed in only 2D may not easily be converted to 3D because the second point of view to create binocular parallax is omitted.
Accordingly, research on converting a 2D image into a 3D image to apply content that has been manufactured in the past from a single view point to a next generation display device which may utilize 3D display has been actively undertaken. To convert the 2D image into the 3D image, depth information is generated, parallax is generated, and the left-eye image and the right-eye image are generated, however it is difficult to technically generate the depth information.